Hurley-Burly: One man’s two minute warning

Saturday

Jun 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2013 at 7:16 PM

So this is how the Toronto Maple Leafs must have felt?

An eight-week playoff rollercoaster that included an unprecedented 27 overtime games was ultimately decided in a short 17-second spurt. It all unfolded during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately for the Boston Bruins, time was not on their side this time around.

Christopher Hurley/churley@wickedlocal.com

So this is how the Toronto Maple Leafs must have felt?

An eight-week playoff rollercoaster that included an unprecedented 27 overtime games was ultimately decided in a short 17-second spurt. It all unfolded during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately for the Boston Bruins, time was not on their side this time around.

It will probably go down as the most gut-wrenching two minutes in Boston Bruins history. Holding what appeared to be a rock solid 2-1 lead in Game 6, the Black and Gold appeared destined to force another seventh and deciding game back in the Windy City. That dream was dashed however, erased by an unflinching Chicago Blackhawks squad that scored a pair of heartbreaking goals in the closing seconds of the contest.

Burly winger Bryan Bickell netted the equalizer at 18:44, tying up the contest. And when tough-as-nails center Dave Bolland banged home the game-winner just 17 seconds later, the comeback was complete.

Before the Blackhawks even realized it, they had won their fifth Stanley Cup, second in four years.

"It’s unbelievable," said Bickell, who was a taxi squad player with the Hawks when the club won it all in 2010. "Being down 2-1 with that many minutes left, and to finish off the way we did is unbelievable. I’m on Cloud 9 right now."

Meanwhile, over in the Bruins locker room, things were understandably somber.

"It’s a bad feeling, bad, like an awful feeling," said Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk. "You can’t really describe it. As a player, it’s probably one of the worst feelings you can get when you’re up by one goal with 1:20 left and somehow you lose the game. It’s a total shock."

The loss ended what was otherwise a truly super playoff performance by the Bruins, one that included a number of remarkable moments and countless heroes from front line center David Krejci and defenseman Zdeno Chara, goaltender Tuukka Rask to wounded warriors such as Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron.

Boston opened the playoffs pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in NHL hockey history in the first round, scoring three consecutive goals to shock Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a dramatic Game 7 victory.

This time the roles were reversed.

"We’ve done it to somebody else, so we got to feel how it feels being on the other side," said Rask. "This season, we were known to lose a couple of quick leads, even in the regular season we were up by goals and we lost the game. I guess that sums it up pretty good."

After hurdling over the New York Rangers in a quick five game-set, the Bruins took out the top-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins in an amazing four-game sweep, propelling themselves to the finals.

But in the end, they’d eventually meet their match bowing out in an evenly matched series against the Hawks, leaving players and fans still dizzy.

"My head’s still spinning," said Hawks winger Patrick Kane, who took home the Conn Smyth trophy as playoff MVP. "I don’t know what’s really happened the last 20 minutes to be honest with you. You’re thinking you’re going back [to Chicago] for Game 7, and you score two goals to win in regulation. This team had that resiliency all year, and it’s going to be fun to celebrate with this team because it’s a great group of guys."

According to lifelong Blackhawk fans like Jim Belushi, he never lost hope.

"With about three minutes left, my son said ‘where are we suppose to meet the car?’" Belushi said. "‘I said ‘you don’t talk about the car until the game is over.’ And they won. What a beautiful night."

But it was also a nightmare that will stick in the mind of the Bruins and their fans for a while. "Forever," Boychuk said. "I mean you are going to remember [this] forever. You remember winning it, but I think you remember losing it a little bit more, now that we had that happen."

It was no different for this humble reporter, who made the fatal mistake of thinking ahead with three minutes left in the game, and everything that I had to do before the drop of the puck for Game 7 Wednesday night. I was ready for all situations, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. But leave it to Dave Bolland for abruptly changing my plans, and the dreams of thousands of Bruins fans.

Wait ‘til next year, Blackhawks.

Christopher Hurley is a sports editor for GateHouse Media New England North Unit. Contact him at churley@wickedlocal.com.